First Snow

Last week was for the dogs, and I mean that in the most literal way. We squeezed in a few days of work, then it was off to Providence for some intense dog training with the coaches at Solid K9. The photo above was taken on a park bench during one of our sessions. We told the dogs to place! on the bench, which means they are supposed to sit there and not move until we tell them break! Marigot has a much better grasp of place than Cole, so she sat down right away, while he helpfully stood on top of her. We’re a work in progress.

We returned to Maine just in time for the weekend, and woke up on Sunday morning to a blanket of snow. After our initial grumblings of “why are we doing this to ourselves?” and “this is why we said we’d never live in a cold place again!” we took the dogs out for their first romp in the snow, which we fully expected them to hate. To our delight, this was not the case. As soon as they discovered how fun it is to jump and play in the white stuff, they did just that. And for ten whole minutes they didn’t shiver once! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have caught some fun action videos in my stories over the weekend.

Once we were back on island, we dove into our work at the restaurant. Having been gone for most of the week, there’s not much progress to show downstairs, but we were thrilled to see that Glen and Stan started building the ceiling reinforcements and walls (!!) and filling them with insulation while we were gone. Our accomplishments were smaller; we removed the old counter (a much more sturdy one with seating will be built in its place), Brian drilled holes and spent a few days crawling around in a crawlspace to run wiring for recessed lighting, while I continued patching all of the tiny nail holes and gaps in the walls and ceiling.

It’s cold, it’s dark, but we are determined. And, at least someone is enjoying the snow so far!

This was the moment that Cole discovered that snow can be eaten – mind BLOWN

I love it when they synchronize their moves

Cole @ Lanes Island Nature Preserve

Marigot @ Lanes Island – and off leash! I’ve tried two coats on her so far with no luck. She’s a tough size.

Early morning @ Lanes Island

Tiny snow drifts on the dining room windows

Carvers Pond under snow, still pretty!

Removing the old counter. We had hoped to preserve it (by making it taller and extending the top so that diners may be seated) , but the base turned out to be shaky and cracking in places. We’ll build a new one in its place that is taller and more structurally sound.

You may recall that in it’s former life, the dining room walls were covered by decor that has left holes behind all over the walls. After we primed, these blemishes became much more prominent, prompting us to realize we needed to stop painting and fix them before we do the final coat.

One by one, I’ve been filling the holes with compound. Once the compound dries, I will sand.

Drilling holes for the recessed lights

Notice that we now have reinforced ceilings and walls! We’re so close to being able to put up the wooden siding I’ve chosen for The Nest.

It’s so heartening to see the walls going up. The plumber has to come and install the bathroom plumbing before the floor can be closed in this spot.